Stars Of Wonder - An "Of Unity" Narrative

[CBR JGWRR]

"Stars Of Wonder"
Rivi B'Uniti
18th Tira-Toru, Year Of The Council 823
Outpost B'Torak, Second Home​

"I am Rivi B'Uniti, Second High-Priestess of Sana-Woru. These three rockets docked to the pad outside are the work of hundreds of thousands of us since we entered the Archive left behind by my ancestors Nomi, Buri and Ruki B'Uniti. I was sixteen years old when that happened, and now I am twice that. This is the greatest scientific undertaking in our history. We have committed everything to expand our knowledge and make this mission possible. But this is only the beginning."

Tana B'Khenna takes my hand. "What we have begun is the adventure of a lifetime. With this facility, forever locked into facing our home above being now complete, we need only launch Xenaya from our home. This facility, totally independent for food, water, oxygen, energy and raw materials, will supply everything else we need, and be a template for future outposts of Xenaya as we spread across our home system."

She waves one more speaker in.

One of the most respected Xenaya walks with a wooden cane to us. Seri B'Torak, the engineer whose steam engines broke new ground and opened the path to the stars, takes my place at the lectern. She looks at me. "Rivi B'Uniti. When we first met, you were just a Third Priestess of Sana-Woru, filled with the passion of youth. Now to that you have added the valour of experience. The dream of finding your ancestors has burned brightly all these years, and at last, we now commission you and Tana B'Khenna as not only Second High-Priestesses of the Rite of Sana-Woru, but as our ambassadors and leaders of a brave new era of exploration. Now is the time for discovery, both of the worlds around us, and what it is to be Xenaya. We are the eager explorers of this new age, and you two as captains of our Exploration Vessels will shape a legacy that will stand forever in the history of the Xenaya." She smiles, pauses. Looks at each of us. "I could not be prouder of you than I am right now." She embraces us. "Ladies, to your Star Striders."

Tana smiles as we bound almost to the roof in the low gravity of our homeworld's moon.

---

Somewhat earlier than planned, but here we are; welcome to the third "Of Unity" Narrative.

As stated in Life2.0 and Mandate Of Heaven, I was going to start Stars Of Wonder after Mandate Of Heaven finished.

But...

Well, as anyone familiar with my thoughts on Humanity's progress knows, I believe that we are so far behind in manned exploration, especially of our home system.

This Narrative?

This is seeing just how far behind. Not only is the task harder from fundamentals - Xenaya are three times the mass of Humans, which is a huge problem in its own right - but as more savvy readers will have noted from the terminology, these Eager Explorers are biting the task at the earliest possible tech level you could try to get to space with.

Most sci-fi has the "one big lie" approach where Faster Than Light engines exist. As a Stellaris narrative, that remains of course. Additionally, as discussed in Life2.0's epilogue, our protagonists have been given three monopole catalysed fusion rocket engines, and three jump drives. They are of course the enabler of our story as we travel between the stars on a useful timeframe for our protagonists. And, as with Life2.0 and Mandate Of Heaven, if it works in Children of a Dead Earth and doesn't exploit the limitations of that game's software, it's allowed here.

The rest however, is technology that is out of the 1800s of Earth history. Specifically, 1860 +/- 25 years as the going tech level of the Xenaya throughout this narrative. A few inventions are a little anachronical to our timeline, but that's more because we didn't need them as early as the Xenaya do, and therefore didn't apply existing techniques, processes and technologies the way they need to. Boron carbide being used in reciprocating steam engines is the most important example.

This is an age of coal-fired ironclads, and the iron men and women who sail them among the stars. This is an age before computers, before AI, when people did mathematics with slide rules and abacii, and wrote on paper with ink. Judging your course by the stars. Peering out with your telescope in hand. Of copper boilers and wrought iron. It is an age of discovery, where the scientists of an entire species come together to build the impossible. And it is an age of family, where a people come together as one to honour their ancestors and shape a legacy that will be remembered for generations to come.

I remember when the Leader Cap was re-introduced reading a thread about the limit on Science Leaders, and how one person wrote they should be able to make Science Ships explore and survey without a Scientist. And I remember thinking why would you want that? The chance to get out there and explore is probably the reason why they became a Scientist in the first place!

And so, here's to the first two Exploration Vessel Scientists of the Xenaya.

 

[Chac1]

Well, this is intriguing. Would you call this steam-punk science fiction?

Certainly willing to go for a ride with this to see how far you take it. It seems you like keeping several works going simultaneously.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Well, this is intriguing. Would you call this steam-punk science fiction?

Certainly willing to go for a ride with this to see how far you take it. It seems you like keeping several works going simultaneously.

Well, steampunk generally is more about the aesthetics rather than the functionality. By the very nature of the task, we are not concerned with aesthetics - this is something that we will see the Xenaya discuss along the way as they confront the tyranny of the rocket equation head-on.

But also, Life2.0 and Mandate Of Heaven are conventional narratives with a hero and a villain (Gaius Licenius, Gnaea Titius and Septima Severus for Life2.0, Septima Severus again for Mandate Of Heaven as well as lots of other undisclosed characters) while Stars Of Wonder does not - the closest to an antogonist is time itself as our characters balance the immense logistics and industry of making rockets on late-1800s tech work within a timeframe that doesn't turn the project into a multi-generational project. It's a fascinating concept.

As far as several works going at once... It's more that at any given time I have several writing projects I'm thinking about, and well, if I don't write the ideas down they get lost. And while Mandate Of Heaven is the main project that chronologically I ought to be working on, at the moment I just find myself looking at a blank page when I open that thread, with all my ideas and inspiration being for Stars Of Wonder and The Olinbariad...

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"After The Discovery, Part 1"
Tana B'Khenna
8th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
The Unity Archive, Yiri District​

The trouble of being a Second Priestess is you still have to report to a First Priest. I watch Dadi B'Turna pace around this cavernous hallway.

He stops to run a claw down one of the figures on the wall.

The turns to me, and Rivi. "Let's discuss what is undeniable about the situation here. It is undeniable that Rivi's blood opened the passage. It's also obvious that these figures were not carved by metal tools."

I look at the nearest to me. "I agree. The rock shows no sign of any kind of tool use really. Yet..." I look up.

And for the first time in all the years I've known her, I wonder if Rivi is right in her stubborn beliefs.

She however, is wide-eyed in wonder. She turns to me. She sighs, and her tension eases. "I can't lie about being thrilled. But, even from a Rukonian believer, there's much that's surprising. Nomi B'Uniti has never been depicted as anything other than the unknown shepherd beast, yet here she's some kind of upright biped in the beginning." She points at the roof. "Look - Buri B'Uniti, Rivi B'Uniti and a baby Ruki B'Uniti are depicted with her both before and after Nomi B'Uniti's transformation from the biped to the unknown beast. It must be her in both forms."

I shrug."Maybe your people just got it wrong. Maybe it's just some symbol in their myth."

She smiles. "Myths don't make blood seals." She looks at the spiral staircase that brought us here. "Blood seals have always been a part of the Rukonian beliefs, they symbolise commitment." She points at the third panel of the second tier. "You can see it in the wedding pact of Nomi and Buri here, the way the blood falls from their shared sword."

I look around. "There are lots of those bipeds, and more. Yet none of them are known to us now. That suggests to me that the whole set are allegorical."

She shrugs now. "Or that they are simply not here. Nomi B'Uniti was always described as descending from and then ascending back to the stars."

I look at her. "Except for-"

Dadi taps the wall. "Ladies, let's all be open-minded. The tenets of the Rite of Sana-Woru require us to evaluate all things in the pursuit of truth. Perhaps Rivi is right and Rukonian beliefs are right. Perhaps You are right Tana, and this is some fanciful joke we don't yet understand. Perhaps there is some third path. Regardless however, exorcism of dogmatism and pre-existing bias from the beginning of any investigation is required of our priesthood. Breathe, and focus. Each of you."

I count to ten.

Rivi begins dabbing her bandage on the wall.

I join her. "Rivi..."

She looks at me. "Tana."

I sigh. "Lets... Suppose you are right. That this is actually a B'Uniti.... Construct. What even is it?"

She stares at me a while, then softens. "I think it is a recording of history, and that this is only an entry sanctum. And I'm guessing that there are other chambers hidden behind more blood seals."

I hold out a hand. "May I help?"

She tentatively unwraps her bandage. "Just... I don't know what we are looking for exactly."

I take the soaked bandage. "Maybe the doors are aligned somehow?"

She looks at the final panel of the third tier. There's a cleft in the wall below the figure wrapped in a shroud. We look at each other. We run.

We're right.

It opens up revealing another chamber. Naturally, we press on.

This chamber...

No panels. Just seemingly endless shelves of items on a long and very gentle downwards spiral.

Eventually a second chamber follows, this time it is millions of drawings. diagrams and...

The final centrepiece is thousands and thousands of thin strands beneath a model that shows the strands arranged as a tiny mesh at the throat of an enormous nozzle composed of blade-like rings.

"What the?"

I turn back to Rivi as she cradles a strand. "These are... Heavy!"

I pick one too, it almost pulls me to the floor. I put it back. She puts hers back. She looks at me. "I... Do not understand."

"Me too. Let's keep moving."

The last blood seal leads us into another vast spherical chamber, dark as night, lit only by lights in the wall. A series of footprints on a transparent plate lead us to the centre of the sphere.

We both look at each other. "It's an orrery. This is our night sky!"

As we watch, we realise it isn't static, it uses flashing arrows to guide our attention to one particular star. Then I look at Rivi. "This is a map of our night sky. Pointing us to a star... And you said Nomi returned to the stars."

Rivi turns back to the door. "Maybe this is Nomi and Buri telling us how to find them?"

I turn back to the door. "And maybe that mesh and ring thing is a tool that takes us to them somehow."

She nods. "I have no idea..." She sits. Then smiles. "But we could look out for the star that's being pointed out by the orrery. If nothing else, it's an experiment we can try to confirm the data from down here."

I sit beside her. "You know Rivi... To the rest of us, you claiming to be descended from Nomi and Buri and Ruki is like claiming to be descended from gods and goddesses and legendary kings."

She smiles. "To us adherents of Rukonian beliefs, they were just people like us who had legends and myths made onto them."

I shrug. "Maybe. I don't know what to think right now. But what I do know is that if any of all this is true... Xenayan society will never be the same. We have to tell the Council."

She bites her lip. "You know all the... Historical unpleasantness that makes Rukonian believers like me hide our faith. I'm the most public believer I know, and even I have to notionally adhere to the Council's theocracy."

I smile. "Yeah, but equally..." I look back at the star. "What if Nomi and Buri are somehow watching this place?" I think about the panels of the third tier. "You Rukonians always claim the Rukonian era began with the overthrow of the B'Turna enslavement league. And those pictures back there showed bipeds helping Xenaya to fight the B'Turna slavers..." I take her hand. "I don't like thinking that Rukonian beliefs might have been right all along."

She laughs. "You've never approved."

I laugh. "Hey, from my religion's point of view, you are practically claiming that you have divine ancestry as you claim Noma-Hama is actually a corruption of Nomi B'Uniti. Would you approve of that?"

She smiles. "No, I wouldn't." She shakes her head. "But again I've never claimed divine descent, and Rukonian beliefs actually hold Nomi B'Uniti was never a goddess."

"The point is Rivi, millions of Xenaya faithful to the Council like me, are now going to have to face questions that strike at the very heart of our belief system. All because of what we've found here."

She looks at the star. "Then we are fortunate that this is a question that we can conduct an experiment to find out." She stands. "Let's suppose this whole place is all here just to give us the tools to investigate these questions." She points out the door. "If that is some kind of propulsion system that can take us to the stars, and we have a map to show us exactly where we have to go..."

I think it through. "Then we can experiment to prove which of us has the right beliefs."

She takes my hand. "Tana, I've been open to your beliefs long enough to attain the rank of Third Priestess." She smiles. "Despite my... Unorthodoxy."

I giggle. "Yeah."

She takes a serious expression. "You trusted me enough to tell me to come here for the blood seals. Will you be open to my beliefs enough to back me asking the Council to let us investigate this?"

I think about it. "I have an idea. Dana B'Torag, the First-Priestess of the Observatory of Sana-Woru. We tell her about the orrery and the star it points to, and if she finds it, I'll support your request in front of the Council."

She smiles. "Thank you Tana. And hey, we've always been rivals, ever since we were noviciates - if I'm wrong, don't you want to be there to say I told you so when I'm forced to publicly recant?"

I laugh. "Rivi... You know I would not miss that. Ever."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"After The Discovery, Part 2"
Tana B'Khenna
8th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
Surface Above The Unity Archive, Yiri District​

Rivi meets me out at the semaphore line. "You look worried Tana."

I pause my pacing to look down at my notes. "Yeah. I'm about to send a message that could turn our world upside down."

She runs a perusal. "We don't know that."

I look at her. "When news of this Archive gets out... Things will be different Rivi. Different in ways we can't be sure of."

She shrugs. "We're priestesses of Sana-Woru, reporting our discovery, and requesting the Observatory does a verification check on a set of coordinates."

I look back at the cave entrance. "What do you think they'll find?"

She shrugs. "I... Don't know. Evidence of alien civilisation I suppose. I mean... I don't know. Just knowing there's a star there is enough."

I shrug. "One star doesn't mean much."

"No, but look at what's in the Archive - that technology is way beyond ours. And they left it here for us to find and then gave us directions to their star. I don't think that is the action of a hostile entity."

I sit. "Rivi... I know you are trying to make light of the situation. But what happens next?"

She shrugs. "The Observatory will reply that they observed a star, and we'll get a reply either tonight or tomorrow morning. Then we send our report to Wera B'Gunda and he decides whether to take it to the rest of the Council, probably by the close of the day meeting."

"Do you think the Council will approve?"

"Well, Wera will back us. But Kari, Turi and Hora all have a vested interest in shutting it down. The rest of the pantheon wouldn't be affected."

I look at her. "I'm kinda mad at you."

She laughs. "Hey, you brought me here."

"I kinda regret opening the box." I sigh. "I'm just worried."

She smiles. "It isn't you who's neck is on the line here. If they decide it's the Rite of Sana-Woru's pet Rukonian making trouble, then..."

I frown. "You shouldn't joke like that."

She snorts. "You'd win our little competition though."

I laugh. "I want to beat you fair and square by making discoveries, not sending a message that leads to you having to justify your beliefs to the Council and then getting exiled."

She laughs. "Don't worry about that." She looks back over her shoulder. "I now have leverage to argue my case with." She taps my notes. "Get it sent, I want to hear back from the Observatory."

I roll my eyes. "Just don't make me say I told you so later."

I take a deep breath, then begin the transmit sequence.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"After The Discovery, Part 3"
Rivi B'Uniti
8th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
The Unity Archive, Yiri District​

I spend the rest of the afternoon looking at the schematics.

Kind of have to; there really aren't many people who can read the formal liturgical Rukonian script, it uses a completely different set of symbols to the rest of the Xenayan languages. Like the rest of our world, it's had a complicated history, and we aren't sure what is true these days. But these are indisputably in Liturgical Rukonian. Liturgical Rukonian is a difficult language; many of the sounds are very difficult to do with Xenayan head features, which is why it was relegated to a dead liturgical language in the first place.

But...

You can't call yourself a B'Uniti and not know the minimum of how to read it - Nomi B'Uniti introduced it, which is why so many sounds are different and difficult.

Still, I owe it my ancestors to read what they left us.

I'm stopped by a trembling tap on my shoulder.

Tana stands behind me.

I raise an eyebrow. "Have they?"

She gulps. "Total stellar occulsion."

I stand. "That's... Surely not possible..."

She holds out her transcript. "It says 'Data anomalous. Initial assessment total stellar occulsion, means unknown. Flagged for investigation, please file report. Auth. Wera B'Gurda.'"

A star? That cold? "That's not possible..."

She shivers. "But... It clearly is. They found it. They looked where we told them to look, and they found it. Rivi, don't you get that? They found something there." She sits. "Something big enough to obscure a star. Gods... What have we found..."

Dadi B'Turna runs into the room from the orrery. "Heard speech but no words. Care to repeat?"

Tana shuffles on her feet.

Then gives Dadi the transcript.

She squirms.

His face goes pale as he looks at me. He stands stiil, takes a few breaths. "Ladies, give him your initial report. Get it sent as soon as you can." He exhales deeply. "Congratulations girls, you've just made history." He stares at me. "Rivi, I've been trying to explain this outside of your beliefs. Tana has been trying too. But we've got nothing that offers as good an explanation as you do. So, in the absence of a provisional alternative explanation, you may state your hypothesis that this is related to your Rukonian beliefs."

Wow. "Dadi... That could be problematic for you."

He shrugs. Waves his arms around the place. "We are a priest and two priestesses of the Rite of Sana-Woru. Our duty is the truth, however comforting or painful that may be." He stiffens and stands straight. "Go. Back upstairs."

I look at Tana.

Offer her my hand.

She takes it.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

The Xenaya Home System​

Before we get into the narrative and our Eager Explorers, it helps to know what they know about their home system.

There is one thing to note:

In Human history, while the planet itself was known since antiquity Saturn's rings weren't seen until 1655, Uranus wasn't positively identified until 1781, Neptune until 1848, we didn't start discovering any asteroids until the 1800s, and the mathematics of the trans-Neptunian objects imply there's something planet-sized in the Sednoids that we haven't found yet. But we don't know. So... Later on in the narrative, as the Xenaya come to a more complete understanding about their home system, give them a little slack. We needed it too.

But here's the starting point:

Welcome to what is listed in the MSI databanks used by Life2.0 as the Meryl system. Load up the Xenaya home system in the original savegame from Stellaris that Life2.0 was based on, and this is what you get - with the dubious bonus that the system has been settled by one of the Naylnoid factions.

Naturally, they are very much long gone by the Stars Of Wonder present day.

Coincidentally, Mandate Of Heaven is about to have Appia's favourite mercenary packing some new upgrades go see the Xenayan Homeworld for a diplomatic visit.

Anyway, in order, there are:

Meryl I - Molten Planet
Meryl II - Molten Planet
The Xenaya Homeworld - Desert Planet
The Homeworld's moon - Molten Planet
Meryl IV - Barren Planet
Meryl V - Frozen Planet
Meryl Va - Barren Moon
Meryl VI - Barren Planet
Meryl VIa - Barren Moon
Meryl VII - Frozen Planet
Meryl VIIa - Frozen Moon
Meryl VIII - Gas Giant, with faint ring
Meryl IX - Frozen planet

Additionally, there is a Reptilian wrecked Titan not far beyond the moon of the homeworld that might just be within the homeworld's hill sphere, and a Molluscoid wrecked Titan out beyond Meryl VII. Which fit very nicely with them being either relics from the Last Great War that happened in the backstory or perhaps as relics from the coming conflict once Mandate Of Heaven gets going.

The question is, is this all the star system?

Well, as said earlier, we get to be taking to the stars in what is a very exciting time to be a Xenayan astronomer. if these only take us out as far as say, Jupiter, then the whole of the outer system is out there for Xenayan scientists to study and explore. Plus, being fundamentally a Stellaris story does bring other scientific curiosities. Namely, I now have to put numbers on all this stuff, and have it all line up, which when you take into account how Stellaris plays very loose with planet types - in the Sol system, Mercury is a Molten Planet, while Uranus and Neptune are Gas Giants. Real world, they are barren and ice giants respectively - is truly a fascinating discussion for the Xenaya to settle by launching rockets and going there.

How they'll do that is something that we'll explore after the next piece for Stars Of Wonder.

 

[Macavity116]

Can't believe I missed the start of this one. The steampunk aesthetics might be mostly cosmetic, but it still has the potential to make the world more interesting.

A Stellaris story around the "Eager Explorers" origin is something I want to write in future, so I'll be over here in the corner taking lots of notes.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Can't believe I missed the start of this one. The steampunk aesthetics might be mostly cosmetic, but it still has the potential to make the world more interesting.

True.

I can't guarantee that coal-fired boilers will be used throughout simply because the stuff is heavy, you burn lots of it, the available thermal gradient when trying to radiate the waste heat away from a spaceship is practically nothing compared to the thermal gradient you can have when you have the same coal having it's waste heat dealt with by convection cooling in an atmosphere, and most fatally to the concept of coal-fired starships, In Situ Resource Utilisation is basically impossible as coal requires very specific conditions to form, and while you can make coal - cook just about any biomass under pressure - doing so isn't cost effective or time effective.

But, external combustion engines will be there start to finish, and what begins with traditional Newcomen-Watt engines and the new Porter-Allen high speed engines, will end with engines massing thousands of tons the using the cooling of fusion rocket nozzles as the input heat for 2800K steam engines pushing out hundreds of MW used aboard starships and GW-scale solar-thermal heat source steam engines.

What can I say?

Don't get me wrong, I appricieate the improvements that the invention of the turbine brings as much as anyone - you probably wouldn't be reading this without a steam turbine providing the power somewhere whether the source is coal, gas, oil or nuclear, and if I could afford to put an EV on the driveway, I would... The mileage I do it would pay for itself in a few years. I'm one of the few people I know who advocates for nuclear powered cars that you can plug your house into.

But there is something to be said for the mechanical beauty and sheer presence of combustion engines, whether internal or external, and I do feel that something will be lost when they go.

A Stellaris story around the "Eager Explorers" origin is something I want to write in future, so I'll be over here in the corner taking lots of notes.

Well, the biggest question you need to answer when defining your Eager Explorers is whether they are making their own kit, or if they've obtained it from someone else and are now wandering off with it.

If they are, then what we'll see with the Xenaya is the lowest tech level you could possibly try it with. And even then, it really isn't easy - just ask the 79kt and 222 metre tall rocket that'll put the first three Xenaya on their moon - that is simply just how much worse on performance the options available at the beginning are. That is not that far from fourty times more mass than the Saturn-V with Moon module.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Before The Council, Part 1"
Rivi B'Uniti
10th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
Wera B'Gurda Residence, Core District​

Tana and I jump from the airship to the landing pad.

I take a deep breath. Never been to the High Priest of Sana-Woru's residence before.

Tana leads me inside.

She paces around the reception area. "This is... Bigger than I thought."

I shrug. "Seems a normal lobby to me."

She laughs. "No, I mean, we've come straight to the High Priest. Like... I've only seen him in person once before."

I nod. "When we graduated from Apprentices to become Wardens."

Her head tilts. "Oh yeah, twice then. But yeah... This is huge."

"Relax Tana."

She fidgets. "I'm trying."

Five minutes feels like eternity, until the doors are pushed open.

A kindly eyed old man with white fur waves. "Come in. There is much to discuss."

We follow him. He sits at his table, then points us to seats.

Then he unfolds a transcript.

Places it on the table.

I look at it. "To Tori B'Qunra, High-Priest of Nori-Woru-"

He smiles. "In the habit of reading other people's mail, Rivi?"

My laugh is way too high-pitched. "I'm sorry. Curiousity got the better of me."

He laughs too. "Ah Rivi..." he stops smiling. "I shall be frank. The two of you have discovered something that has put the Council on edge, yet also willing to listen to the Rite of Sana-Woru. This Archive. Your First Priest has sent me his own report." He fixes his eyes on me. "He recommends vouching for you, publicly."

"Which you are nervous about."

"Correct. Kari B'Kundu has already demanded that I exile you for abusing your position to agitate for your Rukonian beliefs."

I scowl. "Of course he would. Stupid man has learned he can't beat Rukonians on truth so he uses force instead."

Wera splays out his fingers. "WIth respect Rivi, your Rukonian beliefs are not the subject here. No, Kari's angle is he wants to usurp the Archive and secure it for the Rite of Noma-Hama of course, but also he is trying to interfere with another Rite's appointments. Your position is safe."

Tana raises a hand. "Is the Archive safe?"

"Dadi B'Turna has been joined by Templar Knights of Zaru-Toru, who are acting on the personal authority of Dori B'Nuipa to ensure Kari does not get the Archive." He pauses to look at each of us. "Ladies, you are here because this Archive is intriguing. Dana B'Torag has already contacted me. Would you like to know what she did after she replied to you?"

"Sure."

He lays out a picture. "She drew this yesterday, after a long exposure record with the Observatory's visible light telescope."

A faint star peeks out from a swarm of red. "What the?"

"Whatever it is, is not natural. You have found something, Rivi and Tana. Now, you are here to help me decide how to play the politics of the Council. I will begin with what I think, and what I have directed into my motion for the day. Rivi B'Uniti, you are the only B'Uniti anyone else in the Council is even willing to speak to. Being a Third Priestess of Sana-Woru gives you that. But more than that, Dadi's report, taken with Dana's reports, tells me that someone or something out there knows of us and put this there, and then told us how to come find them. Which leads to one conclusion. Rivi - if you are not there when we find them, or worse, they come here to investigate the Archive presumably informing them it has been entered, we risk dealing with Nomi B'Uniti and Buri B'Uniti in the Rukonian understanding." He waves around the room. "You are a Rukonian. You know what they will think."

I nod. "Heresy."

He nods. "So, I want you on board start to finish. But, I need to know that you are worth investing my power within the Council on."

I look at Tana. "Run us as a joint venture."

Tana looks at me. "Rivi?"

I take her hand. "Look. Anyone familiar with our records knows me and you have been competing for years. You are a devout follower of Sana-Woru, and have a near-unbeaten track record that led to you being one of the youngest Second-Priestesses in recent history." I look back at him. "Between us, we are a safe bet."

He smiles. "Glad you see it my way." He shows another list. Tori B'Qunra, High-Priest of Nori-Woru. Sari B'Nuipa, High Priestess of Tira-Toru. Dori B'Nuipa, High Priest of Zaru-Toru. Godi B'Kudzi, High Appeaser of Ziru-Veka. Kuki B'Lunda, Exalted Pursuer, Wava-Wibi. Beastmaster Kari B'Kundu, Noma-Hama. Grandmaster Hora B'Worg, Boru-Hama. Eyekeeper Turi B'Polis, Tohu-Lukn. "Add myself, and we have the full Council of our Theocracy and the deities we represent." He looks each of us in the eyes. "You can do nothing to impress Kari for certain, and likewise Hora and Turi will back Kari. But, you have me and Tori one hundred percent, and Sari and Dori are inclined to support you because Kari annoys them. Godi, well... She's a nervous wreck, so... Supportive, if she thinks it through. Kuki is bonkers, but in principle should back us." He leans back in his chair. "Any questions?"

Tana raises her hand first. "What's in it for Tori?"

Wera smiles. "The prestige and influence from the crafts-priests working on the biggest engineering project in our history, of course."

I tilt my head. "You're proposing a full program? Not just bodging our facilities on the end of the rockets in the Archive?"

"Tori is adamant that we do as much as we can before consulting the Archive. He thinks it would diminish our achivement if we have help."

Tana shakes her head. "Idiot."

Wera snorts. "Yes, but a useful one." he claps. "We will meet them in a few hours. Prepare yourselves. Rivi, do not rise to Kari's insults, that is an order. Dismissed."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Before The Council, Part 2"
Rivi B'Uniti
10th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
Reception Chamber Of The Council, Core District
​

"Firstly, I motion to have this heretic arrested and removed." Kari B'Kundu points at me, his hand shaking. "She is a treacherous Rukonian. She has no place here."

Wera yawns. "Kari, be silent. She is a proven and highly regarded Third Priestess of Sana-Woru. Your attempt to interfere with another Rite's appointments has been noted. No, we are here not to discuss her, but her discovery."

"A discovery that we have to take your word for it as you won't allow independent access-"

"We are allowing independent access. But we are not going to let your thugs intimidate and harass our Priests and Priestesses as they carry out their sacred duties."

Kari roars. "Our Inquistors are acting to ensure the safety of the Xenayan people!"

Sari B'Nuipa leans fowards. "My esteemed colleagues, I feel it necessary to remind both of you that it is the place of this Council to decide our policy, and not to have Rites acting independently. We will make a decision together on how we shall deal with this situation."

Dori takes her hand. "Hear!"

Kari looks daggers at me. Not going to lie, I'd love to drag him to the bleeding place. Not that he'd go. Coward.

Turi looks at me. "The question is this. What is in this Archive?"

Tana unpacks her sketches. "The cave was discovered after a recent earthquake, and reported by local residents that it led to a chamber with carvings inside. I and Dadi B'Turna investigated. I determined there was a door, but it held firm against explosive detonations to try and force entry. That didn't work, so I tried more explosives. Still didn't work. I realised there was a bowl with drain sluices at hand height with a spring-loaded spike, and I figured it was a blood seal."

Kari jumps to his feet. "This is outrageous heresy!"

Grandmaster Hora looks up. "She speaks."

Tana flicks her eyes to him, then continues. "Based on my hypothesis that it was a blood seal, I called in the only Rukonian I know, Rivi B'Uniti. Rivi was dropped by airship later that day, and within five minutes of her arrival the seal was opened."

I wave a bandaged hand. "We can prove that."

Kari scowls. "Blood seals are impossible."

"With the entry now obtained, it brought us into this room." She hands out more sketches. "These carvings are in full colour, and sampling indicates it is was not painted and varnished but is instead some kind of heat-activated spray. They show no signs of metal toolworking to carve and look like they were carved through incredibly precise vaporisation of the rock."

"A flight of fancy."

"She speaks."

"Rivi established that these carvings are of the Late-Rukonian era and depict three sequences of events. The first set of panels depicts our ancient history, the second set depict the story of Nomi B'Uniti and her family and friends, and the third set of panels depicts events from the life of High King Ruki B'Uniti, ending with his death, and the consecration of the Archive itself."

"Myths and lies."

Hora taps him. "She speaks."

"In opening a second blood seal, Rivi led the way into a slowly spiraling hall filled with artefacts of unknown purpose, leading into a third chamber filled with technical drawings and a centrepiece composed of a model of some kind of engine, and a nozzle. Beneath it are all the components to make three of those engines - they consist of a pump, an incredibly heavy mesh of tightly packed strands that take all your strength to lift, and a series of rings that are angled to a very sharp inner blade ring that form the nozzle. From there, we entered the last chamber, which was a transparent platform out to the middle of a huge sphere that showed our night sky. It highlights a particular star. Rivi and I discussed that, and we agreed that I'd back her to ask for an investigation if that star came to something."

Wera nods. "Dana B'Torag at the Obsevatory of Sana-Woru then looked at the star in question, and discovered that the visible light it emits is near negligible, yet when viewed through our new bolometer array it shows up very clearly against the background cold. She took a long exposure record overnight, and found this." He passes round the drawing. "It appears this star is orbited by such a vast host of satellites that it is near permanently obscured."

Turi's eyes light up when the drawing passes to him. "The Eye of Tohu-Lukn! I have dreamed of this place!" He fixes on me. "And you say this rocket could... Take us there?"

Tana shrugs. "I have no idea what it would take for us to go to another star."

I smile. "I expect so though. I mean, my ancestors leaving us a rocket that couldn't wouldn't be right. They would want us to come to them. They've told us where to go, given us an assembly required set of things and some instructions-"

Kari stands. "Has this Council forgetten what heresy is? Throw them out!"

Hora punches him. "She speaks."

Tori claps his hands together. "I do however see one problem. I am inclined to agree with Rivi here. On the assumption that Nomi B'Uniti is a real person and not a myth, she is in the Rukonian understanding a mother of the Xenayan people, is she not?"

I nod. "In a way, she always maintained that we adopted her though."

"Now, her motives in wanting us to come find her are unknown at this stage, but I can envision the engine Tana describes working in principle even if the workings are beyond my understanding. Never the less, I feel that us embarking on a fantastical voyage to the stars to find the truth about our gods, without properly understanding the tools by which we travel is quite risky. I propose that we instead begin by building our own capabilities up. I propose that we first undertake a mission built on our technology to our moon."

Wera nods. "I am inclined to agree. As High Priest of Sana-Woru, I trust Rivi and Tana's work. But we must verify and experiment to test what is in the Archive."

Kari shakes his head. "This is heresy."

I look at Wera. "One sentence, spoken frankly."

He shakes his head. "Kari, stop for a moment. There is enough evidence here to warrant our investigation. If anything, you should be supportive, given your Rite has become all about social cohesion - we need to do this together."

Kari scowls at me. "Let's vote."

Wera looks around the room. "All in favour of investigating the Archive and beginning our quest for truth?"

While some are slower than others, eventually nine hands rise.

Kari scowls. "I concede the floor to the will of the Council."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

Xenayan Technology​

One key constraint of our setting is that our protagonists are limited to 19th century technologies - the idea is that they are Eager Explorers after all.

My initial concept just transferred the tech base over and explored what could be done. Hence, coal powering everything.

But...

The more I develop the Xenaya, the more the flaws in the initial premise become apparent. Coal for example, is large quantities of biomass that has been swiftly buried to prevent consumption from herbivorous fauna and subsequently cooked while under extreme pressure. They live on a desert world. Large quantities of biomass are therefore tricky.

But also, transplanting a technological epoch to another world and another people is not as simple as "X technology was developed in year Y".

Worked Example: Cloud Strider Things (Airships)

Take airships - they are the first technology we are going to look at in detail. Airships are of course a staple of the steampunk setting, and they were always going to be ubiquitous in the portions of Stars Of Wonder set on the homeworld, and in the portions set on Saturn at the end.

But, I initially figured that airships would be a new thing for the Xenaya, on the basis that we only made our first airship of the type I was expecting the Xenaya to use in 1852. But then I started thinking about it fully after posting the previous piece, and now I realise that they'd be as old as Xenayan civilisation itself.

Coal is not actually all that available on the Xenayan homeworld. But, what they do have in abundance is solar power. On Earth, we have roughly 1kW/m^2 - our desert world dwelling protagonists are presumably closer to their star and therefore reasonably have a higher irradiance than we do.

Solar rays can be turned into power either photovoltaics or through a heat engine, the latter using mirrors or lenses to focus sunlight onto a target. Mirrors of course, are a technology we've been using that is as old as writing or farming or urbanisation in general - the first applications were polished slices of obsidian. Bronze mirrors are a technology more than four thousand years old, while metal-backed glass mirrors date back as far as Ptolemaic Egypt. Now, we never had an incentive to build hundreds of square metres of mirror until we started looking at Concentrated Solar Power systems.

They however, do - and right from the beginning of their history:

As we have seen discussed, the Xenaya of Life2.0/Mandate Of Heaven time period are stone age generally, with spikes in firearms thanks to MSI meddling that we will see put right in the ongoing prologue pieces for Mandate Of Heaven.

Subsequently, Naomi, Buri and Ruki will return to the Xenaya homeworld and lay what they hope is the foundation of their society for centuries to come - Ruki will stay as a Philosopher King while Naomi and Buri retire with a torchship and go exploring, eventually visiting once every few centuries to keep an eye on them, but mainly living with Xenayan populations away from the homeworld; for Naomi, her affinity is with the Xenaya of Unity and later Earth/SolSys in general, while the homeworld has a lot of bad memories for Buri.

Ruki has the freedom and constraint that he wants to establish a united Xenayan people before they develop what we know as nation-states; the primary social means he picks is religion, which is why it is so important to the Xenaya we meet in Stars Of Wonder, and why Rivi B'Uniti's stubborn adherence to Rukonian belief makes her seen as a threat. Communications are just as important, so we see the implementation of semaphores for overland communications. And related to communications is travel time.

Now, there are not many ways to travel across a desert quickly, but an airship is one of them.

Ruki had access to some very advanced kit if needed, but, they don't need that. All they need is the ability to electrolyse water to split and capture the hydrogen (helium, despite it's commonality in the wider universe, is very rare on a rocky planet; a possible plot point that is to be investigated later is importing helium from their system's gas giants to supply airship demand on the homeworld) and stockpile it for essentially immediate use in airships. Solar-thermal power plants that work by concentrating sunlight on a boiler with mirrors, and then using that boiler as the input for a steam engine, is within their industrial capability. Unfortunately, the electricity demand of 180MW/kg means it needs a huge amount of power - at these efficiencies, a circle of mirrors of 1km radius is able to supply 6.28kg of hydrogen per hour, meaning they will need a lot of them.

But equally, it's just wood, tin and glass, so at least the powerplants are cheap.

These plants can also be mounted on airships to boil water to supply steam for a steam engine that propels the airship - the ~1kW/m^2 discussed earlier, by the time you've got through all the inefficiencies in the process, becomes more like 0.1kW/m^2. (photovoltaic panels instead would make this so much easier, which is another innovation that was first developed on Earth in the technological time period we are examining. Edit - on running the numbers, photovoltaic systems of the era were actually so low performance and so heavy that they simply aren't viable)

The lifting capacity scales with the volume of the envelope, which is proportional to m^3. The minimum structural mass scales with the size of the envelope and the power desired for propulsion, both of which are proportional to m^2. For materials trivially available to the Xenaya's industrial base - linen/cotton cloth, wooden framework, carbon steel for engines, glass on tin mirrors - we can say 0.5kg/m^2 for the envelope on smaller airships that don't need significant structural reinforcement up to 1.5kg/m^2 on airships that do, 13kg/m^2 for mirrors and support structure, and a conservative 20kg/kW per ton on powertrain. You also need smaller internal balloons front and rear to control pitch and reduce bouancy enough to land and stay landed. Reserve water tanks are also a good idea as the losses over time add up. The hydrogen also needs to be refilled on a fairly regular basis, between a few weeks to monthly, varying based on thickness of fabric above the minimum and the margin of used payload to rated payload when full.

The amount of power needed is given by P=Fd.v, which is P=A.Cd.ρ.v^3/2, where A is area, Cd is drag coefficient, ρ is the fluid density - 1.225kg/m^3 for air at sea level on Earth - v is the velocity. Area is usually treated as a circle given the dominance of the usually cylindrical envelope. It's worth noting this is the power before the efficiency of your propeller system; on their techbase, this is worth a fair chunk off the rated power.

For a basic reference of a small and streamlined fast passenger transport airship of the sort depicted carrying Rivi and Tana or the High Priests, we can substitute the values of π10^2 for area, 0.08 for Cd, 1.225 for density and 25m/s for v, meaning it needs 300kW. This is obtained from 6t of powerplant and 36t of mirrors, while the mass of a 170m long and 10m radius envelope is just under 6t.

It also needs 4800.23kg of hydrogen to inflate, and depending on the quality of the cloth envelope, could lose as much as 5% of that per day from diffusion; sealing the envelope could reduce that down to around 1% per day, but basically doubles the mass of the envelope, and in this particular specification, there isn't enough mass budget left, and a slower speed would have to be accepted.

The amount of mass needed (nearly another 6t) is saved by dropping the velocity by just over 1m/s, which perfectly demonstrates how payload mass on airships this small is a lot better by accepting lower power requirements. Get drastic and cut the speed required to 11.6m/s - a little under half - and the power required reduces to a tenth, which saves almost 5t in powerplant and 32t of mirrors - plenty for additional layers to aid hydrogen retention. Fast applications, especially for high payload missions, will want external combustion steam engines to save mass on high-power applications. But, as said we were dealing with a fast passenger airship; the one that took Tana, Rivi and Dadi to the Archive to begin with was almost certainly the slower sort.

Now, these airships scale up quite nicely - the bigger you make them, the better the ratio of volume to area becomes and therefore the greater the mass that can be lifted. If you want to carry, say, 10 kilotons of mass on an airship, you need an airship that's essentially 700m long and 75m radius. Pretty big sure, but still a reasonable size. And with the ~300kW system discussed earlier, it's good for just under 15mph.

All this means that airships of varying sizes in Xenayan society fill the niche that anything bigger than a bus or a truck does in ours.

As a final detail of course, the Xenaya would not call them airships. They dwell on a desert planet and so they lack ocean-going ships. Without ocean-going ships and the maritime cultural background Humanity has, the context for why it is called a ship and why it would have the added context given by specifying that it is an "air" ship in particular is lost completely.

Which leaves me a choice - I could call them something far more Xenayan than "airship", like cloud strider thing. (because they stride among clouds; Xenayan names for stuff are simple like that. Just ask a tasty furry thing from Life2.0) But if I did, it loses the translation convention utility of airship...

Either way, the Xenaya get solar powered airships a good century and a half before we did. They aren't doing too badly.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Onwards To Second Home" (Revised)
Rivi B'Uniti
11th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
The Legacy Of The Crafts-Priests Of Nori-Woru, Core District​

Shadow falls at midday.

A chill runs through the air as Wera B'Gurda and Tori B'Qunra join me and Tana on the stage. I...

I avoid things like this. Lots of people looking at me is not good.

Still...

Tori steps forward. "Above us right now, is the biggest airship we have yet made, a vast machine seven hundred strides long that can carry tens of thousands of Xenaya. From here, it will travel the skies of our homeworld, delivering people and goods between the major settlements of our people, delivering raw materials across the continents. But we are the Crafts-Priests of Nori-Woru!"

Cheers from most of the crowd; the others are Priests of Sana-Woru of course.

"We do not settle for merely expanding the works of our ancestors. We will strive for even greater things!"

More cheers. Some questioning glances.

"Following recent discoveries by the Priestesses of Sana-Woru beside me-" He waves to me and Tana -"Our Council has agreed to conduct the most ambitious venture of our age." He points up, our moon barely visible in the vast blue sky. "We commit to putting Xenaya on Second Home, and returning them here safely again."

Stunned silence.

Then nervous glances from some, and wide grins from others.

I think about the Archive.

Tori pulls Wera close in to stand shoulder to shoulder. "We are Priests of Nori-Woru and Sana-Woru! And as the dance of our patron deities has always been, we step into the dance of discovery together. There is so much to learn and achieve, much prestige to be accrued, and honours to be given out. Our theorists are as yet unsure what lies above, with some proposing an infinite aether, and others nothing at all. We will settle this question decisively, and many thousands more as we reach for heights unseen by any Xenaya so far." He raises his hands. "We are history-makers! What we do today is for the good of all Xenaya-kind, for the discoveries, materials and technologies we develop will open up brand new worlds for our people. We will need new materials, new chemistry, new physics, new innovations, and above all, the indomitable spirit of the Xenaya!"

The cheers become a roar.

Wera steps forward. "From the most ancient tales of our people and the gods, our patrons have walked in the pursuit of knowledge together. Nori-Woru ever eager to explore new places, experient with new things, his sister more cautious and careful, thinking through each step. Together, they were never elluded a discovery they sought. Like our patrons, we are stood together as Priests of Sana-Woru and Nori-Woru before the greatest scientific expedition of our age."

He waits for the crowd to fall silent.

"What was, will be."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Back To The Archive, Part 1"
Rivi B'Uniti
11th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
Cloud Strider "Core's Pride", Core District Tethers​

Guess where said seven hundred stride Cloud Strider is going first?

Yeah.

I now have to justify Rukonian theology to a thousand Priests of Sana-Woru while we travel to the Archive with enough resources in tow to set up a permanent research base there.

And they are all looking at me.

Judging the heretic they now have to trust.

I open my mouth, then close it again...

Tana steps to my side. It seems crazy that my childhood rival is now shielding me.

She looks back at them. "I know you are looking at Rivi and wondering why a heretic is here leading our mission. Truthfully, she is not." She takes out a transcript. "Wera B'Gurda has appointed me as First Priestess, and I am leading this mission. Rivi is my assistant and my subject matter expert, and she is a Third Priestess of Sana-Woru in her own right even with her disadvantage. And yes, she's Rukonian. The Archive is on the Rukonian reserve, and so she is allowed to summon you to their bleeding place here. We are not the Inquisitors of Noma-Hama who evict and capture Rukonians, and while we are here we will respect their customs. We are here to learn from a Rukonian Archive that has already seen experimental confirmation of some of the known predictions. As Priests and Priestesses of Sana-Woru we are obliged to examine the evidence impartially and with an open mind."

She stares at them. Waits a few minutes.

"If that isn't acceptable, then get off this Cloud Strider now. Fail to get off now and you decide to cause problems later and you'll see Wera B'Gurda himself."

Ten minutes later, our Cloud Strider looks empty.

I look at Tana. "Thank you."

She frowns. "Please bail them out when they insult the locals."

"I'll try." I look at them. "Could you who remain come closer."

They pack into the first few rows. Quick count... we've lost a good eight hundred Xenaya.

I try to smile. "So, yes, I'm the Rukonian. I'm the one who has the trust of Wera B'Gurda, I'm the one that the Council has acknowledged as a critcal member of the team, and I'm your best hope of survival in the wild lands." I pause. "How many here have hunted and killed their own food?"

Me.

Two others.

Ok. "We will be going to the wild. Out here, you survive by hunting and killing your prey. These lands are home to nomads who track their prey in the wilds between the outer veld plains of the Council territory, through the parched rock of the badlands where we will land and establish our base, before the great dunes of the inner deserts. There are no farm beasts there. It can be days between your meals. What was a water source one day, may be gone the next. This is a harsh land where the group survives by working together and where outsiders are dangerous, even when they are other Rukonian nomads - it is all too easy to make a group too big to survive here. City folk like you are very rare, and are almost always Inquisitors of Noma-Hama who force parents into the desert and take their children from them." The other two give me the slightest nods. "Fortunately, we are here under the banner of Sana-Woru, and that means we won't be hated on sight."

Tana fetches a map. "The Archive is here. We have already set up a semaphore line for communications to a nearby Council mining outpost, while Rukonian nomads live in caves around the Archive and were the source of information that said outpost passed to us. We have seen them, but they have not trusted us enough to make contact yet. Do not try to open any doors - they are blood sealed and immune to explosives. It's why I had to bring Rivi on board." I wave a bandaged hand. "Her blood is accepted by the seals." She looks at me. "I think the rest can wait until we get there, so for now, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Tana B'Khenna, First Priestess of Sana-Woru, and the youngest First Priestess in a generation."

I smile. "I'm Rivi B'Uniti. I am a direct descendant of Ruki B'Uniti through his son Wami B'Uniti, and named for his sister Rivi B'Uniti. As a result, in the event we might Nomi B'Uniti and Buri B'Uniti in person, I get to meet my grandparents from sixty seven generations ago." I laugh. "I'm here because I was taken from my parents by Noma-Hama Inquistors and dumped on the Priests of Sana-Woru, and I did my best through my career of eleven years in the Priesthood to excel, and I've done well enough that they made me Third Priestess." I look at them. "Who's next?"

A woman shoots her hand in the air. She smiles. "I'm Liki B'Woruk. I'm a mother of two children, a third on the way, and I've always loved the idea of going to Second Home." She laughs. "I want to make it happen, and maybe be there someday."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Back To The Archive, Part 2"
Rivi B'Uniti
11th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
Cloud Strider Thing "Core's Pride", The Unity Archive
​

"Rivi." Tana stands over me.

I yawn. "Tana?"

"We're here."

I shake myself awake, then descend the tether to the Archive with her.

The others are already admiring the decorations, but Tana gathers them to us at the first blood seal. "We'll spend the rest of today setting up camp in here. Fari, Lori - you were also Rukonians?"

The other two join us. Fari - a man with rich red fur and a missing horn - nods. "Once." He shifts his eyes between us.

Lori shakes his head. "Been with the Priesthood since I was a cub."

Tana frowns. "So you can't translate?"

Both shake their heads.

Tana sighs. "Ok, go help the others." She turns to me. "We know it's all written in Old Rukonian. And you're the only native speaker we have."

I shuffle. "It will be tricky to find others who can. Harder still to convince them to come."

"Rivi... I'm thinking that I am going to need other translators. There's just so much we'd need to translate. You're Rukonian. What would it take?"

"To?"

"To get them to come here."

I look at my feet. "Supplies and safety."

"Safety from whom?"

"The Inquisitors."

She sits. "Rivi... That Council policy ensures that Xenayan children are raised in good homes to be good citizens, with plentiful food and water, guaranteed education and access to a future."

I scowl. "Ever thought about what it's like from the other side?"

She sighs. "Look, would you really prefer to have been raised by some wanderers in a dessert? You've had all the perks of life in Council territory. Ultimately it is for the best for these children."

"We'll agree to disagree. Point is, the only way they'll trust you is if you convince them they are not going to be captured by the Inquisitors. If you want more translators, you need to ensure that they are safe from having their children kidnapped and raised by the enemy."

She takes a deep breath. "So there's no other way?"

I fold my arms. "Tana, what's the point in having the Priesthood's pet Rukonian here if you aren't going to listen to her?"

She sulks for a while. "Fine. I'll talk to Wera about it." She looks through to the next room. "Meanwhile, you should get writing."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"A Question Of Tradition"
Tana B'Khenna
15th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
The Unity Archive, Yiri District​

I smile. "Welcome, Wera B'Gurda, to the Archive."

He steps down from the tether. "Well, I'm eager to see for myself."

I lead him down. He stops at the entry chamber. Looks around. "Fascinating. The detail... It looks like it was made yesterday."

"I know... We've had samples analysed." I point to chips we took off the sculptures and samples of the rock. "The lab has confirmed that the rock the sculptures are made from is the same bedrock that forms this whole region."

He runs claws along a sculpture. "So smooth."

"Yeah. That's another thing the lab picked up - they've looked at the microstructure under the biggest magnification we have, and these sculptures were definitely carved by heat strong enough to melt the rock incredibly precisely. The whole cavern is, in fact. Nothing here shows any sign of tool use. Not even paint brushes."

He looks at me. "Not... That's ridiculous. You can see the paint!"

I nod. "Yeah, you can. but the layers the paint is made from are uniformly consistent on a level unlike anything the lab's ever tested. It was not applied with a brush, somehow it's just been... It's like the paint applied itself."

Kani, a Fifth Priest, joins us. "There's more, Priestess." We follow him to the test bench. "Acid test results show the paint undergoes nearly no wearing away, even under strengths sufficient to completely destroy a sample of traditional paints."

Wera looks at him. "So this Archive... Is conclusively beyond our ability to make?"

Kani withdraws. "I couldn't say the Archive as a whole is for lack of testing. But the paint is undoubtedly both not ours, and also not fake."

Wera frowns. "And dating testing?"

Kani shuffles. "The paint's resilience is astounding; anything less than deliberate damage seems to be ignored, and it seems to have self-healing capabilities. I could not begin to estimate the age. I'd have no trouble believing it was a thousand years old, or that it was indeed made yesterday such is the material's qualities."

I stand. "There's more." I lead Wera to the blood seal. "This... Is proof."

"Proof of?"

"This is a blood seal. A working blood seal."

Wera looks at the door. "Was the door closed in order to demonstrate that fact then?"

I look in the tent covered with an introduction to Old Rukonian liguistics. "Rivi."

She comes out.

Hand still bandaged.

Strides to the seal.

Unwraps the bandage.

Squeezes her hand and lets it drip.

Door opens.

I look at Wera. "Yeah, it was."

Wera looks from the blood seal to the door, then back to Rivi. "It's true then." He takes a deep breath. "That complicates things."

Rivi steps into the Archive. "Coming?"

Wera smiles. "We are here for truth."

More Priests are working in this second chamber, studying the historical panels. "Liki!"

She looks over some scaffolding. "Yes?"

"Come here."

She leaps. "We've been analysing the images."

Wera looks up. "Who are all the bipeds? And the others?"

"We aren't sure. Well, Rivi is, but there's some surprises here for her too... " She shuffles. "Permission to speak freely?"

Wera narrows his eyes. "Granted."

Liki takes a deep breath. "Forgive me High Priest, but I feel we must bring in Rukonian theologians on this. Rivi isn't nearly as well studied in Rukonian beliefs as we require to fully piece together the story above us."

Wera rubs his forehead. "You do not know how much of a headache that will cause on the Council..." he looks at Rivi. "Would you agree?"

Rivi shrugs. "Unless my people can trust that this isn't an elaborate scheme to round them up, they won't want to come."

Wera looks at me. "Do you think they are needed?"

"It would definitely make things quicker."

Wera sits and thinks for a while.

Then lies back.

Looks at the roof.

Drums his claws. "The only way we'll truly understand this place is by bringing in Rukonians. We'll have to keep their involvement secret however, as if word reaches the Inquisitors..."

Rivi scowls. "You'll have to fight beside us against them if you ever want to have Rukonians help you again."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Rukonian Contact"
Tana B'Khenna
15th Tira-Toru, Y.C. 807
B'Yars Grounds, Outer Badlands​

I repack our parachutes after landing, Rivi lights a fire.

Soon, we're done. I sit next to her. "So... Who are we hoping will come?"

She sighs. "Well... This region is part of the roaming grounds of the B'Yars clan. We're roughly in the middle. They've always been friendly to the B'Uniti dynasty, going all the way back to Nomi and Buri B'Uniti. I'm hoping that we will eventually get to see the clan patriarch Hani B'Yars."

"Will he help us?"

She shrugs. "He will help me." She sighs. "I hope."

I yawn. "Could you take first watch?"

She nods.

I curl up.

---

I'm poked awake.

A man stands over me, wearing a patchwork-repaired set of goggles.

Rivi speaks. "Hani B'Yars, meet Tana B'Khenna."

He sniffs me. Then looks at Rivi. "She's Council, Rivi."

"Yes, she is. Look, I need a favour doing. The Rite of Sana-Woru has found an Archive dating back to Wami B'Uniti. I need your help to understand it."

He glares. "Where?"

"The old B'Ralrada Grounds."

He flinches. Snorts. "The kidnappers reach there. No. Not going."

I look at Rivi. She nods. "Clanfather B'Yars, I am a Second Priestess of Sana-Woru, and I answer directly to High Priest Wera B'Gurda. I know you may not know those names and titles mean, but I have the authority to impose a ban on Inquisitor action for the duration of the mission. If you can help us, I will do my very best to ensure there is no risk involved."

Rivi rests her hand on my arm as he rises. He looks at her. Then spits at me. "Why should I accept your word? For all I know, Rivi is here in distress and you are her captor."

Rivi gently pushes on me. "Hani, I vouch for her."

He recoils. Then shakes his head. "No my liege, you cannot... Council cannot be trusted."

"I already vouched for her."

He shudders. "I cannot... If she betrays, I cannot accept..."

Rivi stands. "She is vouched for. Will you join me, or not?"

He turns from her to me.

Me to her.

Her to me.

Closes his eyes.

Roars.

Throws himself at Rivi's feet,, head bowed. "Clan B'Yars answers to the Queen." He trembles. "But I beg of you not to vouch..."

Rivi rests her hand on his horns. "She is vouched for."

Hani looks at me, fearfully. "So be it." Then he stands, and returns to the other Rukonians.

I look at Rivi. "What did that mean?"

She sighs. "You betray us, and he has to kill me too."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Initial Misgivings"
Hani B'Yars
25th Ykrett, 1057 U.R.
The Unity Archive, Baralda Grounds​

These are...

The ancestors.

I cradle my googles as I look upon my forefather, Wami B'Yars, Second to Buri B'Uniti, Warchief of Nomi B'Uniti.

I look at Rivi. "The small dark one next to Buri, Ruki and Rivi... Are they?"

She nods. "Yes." She points. "See, here in the later panels - she and Buri enter the tanks of Tohu-Lukn together, and she comes out as the Shepherd Wolf we know."

Someone sighs.

Tana throws a rock. "I will say this again - we will respect Rukonian beliefs and customs while in their territory." She sighs as she joins us. "More of Wera's staff have arrived now." She looks at me. "What do you think?"

I raise my googles. "They match."

She looks up. "Hani, I want to ask... When you called Rivi Queen earlier... What exactly does that mean?"

I look at Rivi. Run my eyes down the patterned black and cold grey of her regnal blade. "Rivi is the High Queen of the Xenaya. The blood of Nomi B'Uniti runs through her veins."

"I'll rephrase - does that mean she commands you Rukonians?"

I turn to her. "You are Council. You do not understand."

She stays focused on me. "Then help me understand."

"Council leaders seek power. Seek control. Dominance. Imposition of will. Accumulation of resources. But the High Queen does not. She gives. Gives of her time, her strength, her passion, her love... The High Queen does not command from a throne far behind, but leads from the front." I shake my head. "As Council, all you know is the quest for personal gain." I look around the room. "Have any of you not weighed up the reward of betraying us against the wrath of Tana?"

I run my eyes into each of them.

Not many meet my gaze.

I look back at Tana. "Rukonians no kill Rukonians. Council..." I salivate.

Rivi stares. "Hani. No."

I swallow.

Tana looks at her. "And you Rivi?"

Rivi shifts her weight from one foot to another. "Tana... I want our mission to succeed. Truly. And I want this partnership to work. But Hani is right - we all know how much Kari B'Kundu would pay to have the Rukonians who have joined us here captured. It takes a huge amount of trust for them to stay here and not run before the inevitable comes. To stand here, knowing that everyone else would walk on by if the Inquisitors turn up. But I bring them here because I believe that this Archive, this mission, could be a true new beginning for us Xenaya. I am the bridge that makes this mission work. But if you are asking on who's side I stand if Inquisitors show up..." She runs a hand down the small blade. "Then I die with my people."

Tana stares, then nods. "I understand."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

So, a confession.

Been silent for a while, I know. Life2.0 got updates almost daily, but SOW/MOH are lagging somewhat...

The delay is for two reasons.

One, I've gotten distracted by solar-thermal stirling engine driven Cloud Striders and working out the designs as there's a part of me that's considering trying to build a blimp-variant (a blimp is an airship that relies on heating the contents of the envelope to get extra lift) for my own use.

Second is the number crunching that goes into the rockets that will take the Xenaya to their moon, and the second generation rockets that will take them across their star system.

Partially, this is because I may have actually come up with a half decent idea for a change. Ethyne, better known as acetylene is a rather dangerous (name a potential rocket fuel that isn't though) hydrocarbon that under sufficient heat or pressure exothermically decomposes into carbon and hydrogen, and you can use this process in a rocket. The hydrogen can be chucked out the nozzle with no worries, but some of the carbon deposits on the rocket walls as soot.

Ethyne rockets are big; the moon mission rocket is 30 times the mass of a Saturn-V because it's using materials used that are period appropriate (and designed around Xenaya) and that means heat tolerance is abysmal and therefore the amount of fuel combinations that don't make your nozzle melt and explode are limited, and Ethyne decomposition is the most effective one available (liquid hydrogen was figured out in 1898, which is beyond the cutoff I'm allowing for the Xenaya to have) and is available in the immense quantities required by their space program.

The size of tanks and how much has to be decomposed means that the deposition of carbon onto the nozzle wall is staggeringly high; more than a few minutes and the rockets will have nozzles gummed up full of soot.

I had the idea that while carbon has a melting/vaporisation point too high to exhaust, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide don't. So, if you open air intake slots in the nozzle during the lower atmosphere and then add injected liquid oxygen into the nozzle, you could react the carbon in the high temperatures with the oxygen very easily, leaving a hotter exhaust product and a slightly higher exhaust velocity. (in case you are wondering, LOX-Ethyne melts the test nozzle they use, which is why it isn't being used) Staging repeat afterburners like these in principle allows you to prevent soot build up.

The trouble is, this is now way beyond my level to figure out; at this point, I'm now looking at a variant of a rocket/scramjet hybrid. And well...

Life2.0's use of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion had the big advantage that it was largely figured out, and if the idiots at USAF had met Kennedy with the manned mission to Enceladus idea instead of the space-battleship idea, might well be something we'd consider normal today.

This?

Making a rocket/scramjet hybrid is state of the art aerospace science right now. It's just a bit beyond a guy who quite his engineering degree after two years because of ill health and eventually ended up in a chicken farm where one of the few advantages of the job is that I only need a fraction of my mind to do it, and that leaves the rest free to think about whatever I'd rather be thinking about than work.

And well...

Well, it is contributing to an unusually early mid-life crisis where I'm sat here thinking about my life as it is and...

For a long time, I've suffered crippling anxiety about failure.

And one of my deepest fears has always been meeting the man I could have been. And in the past...

That man was always a nebulous entity who I could envision, and not match.

But...

In facing the writing of Life2.0 over the last two years and the ongoing planning of Mandate Of Heaven's main story and the eventual outcome the protagonists of Stars Of Wonder will see, is that I have come to realise tonight a chilling realisation; that man is The Holocron.

And there's part of me thinking "Eh, stuff it, go play GTA5 and do some mindless PvEvP for a bit", another part is thinking "go talk to your wife you sad bastard", and another part is thinking about the list of books I'd like to read to check this idea against and see if I'm missing something painfully obvious that scuppers the idea but that I can't afford because of circumstances...

So...

Yeah.

But anyway, I will try to get more done on SOW and MOH this week.

 

[Chac1]

As someone who is reading these very interesting pieces at a much slower rate than you are posting, please take your time. Don't ever feel pressed or pressured.

Also, I hear your existential angst, and only wish the best for you. Take some time for yourself. With your wife. Do what makes you feel good.

As someone who also overthinks "what might have been," I think we both know that is a dangerous thinking loop that usually only slides a person downward.

There is nothing wrong with what you are doing now, if you have some happiness.

Your engineering background shines through in your work. That is a positive.

Perhaps writing is in your future somewhere? I know it is hard for that to pay the bills these days, but you have imagination, creativity, plus interesting characters and plots. Please give yourself some credit.

I've just started barely getting into all of your creative works and the thinking behind them is impressive.

Bottom line though: whatever you are pursuing beyond what you must do to keep you and yours afloat should mostly bring you some joy. Hang in there.